Jorge Lorenzo is getting better every day and will attend the final pre-season
MotoGP test, at Qatar on March 18-19, although it remains to be seen how effective he will be.
The 2009
MotoGP World Championship runner-up sustained a fracture at the base of the first metacarpal and a displaced thumb, both in his right hand, after a motocross training accident in mid-February.
The young Spaniard was forced to miss the second pre-season test at Sepang late last month as a result of the injury, which required surgery to insert a titanium plate.
Lorenzo's recovery has since continued at a steady pace, although his exact level of
MotoGP fitness won't be known until he gets back on his M1.
“Jorge is better day after day, but we don't know what he will be able to [do] in Qatar,” Lorenzo's press manager, Hector Martin, told
Crash.net. “Anyway, we will go to Doha [for the test], that's for sure.”
Lorenzo is no stranger to riding injured, having suffered a series of painful accidents during his rookie 2008
MotoGP season. Last year he won four races and finished second only to reigning seven time champion, and Fiat Yamaha team-mate, Valentino Rossi.
Lorenzo finished the first pre-season test at Sepang, held just before his injury, in third place behind Rossi and
Casey Stoner (Ducati). Rossi remained unbeaten at the second Sepang test.
Following the Qatar test, the first race of the 2010
MotoGP season takes place back at Losail on the evening of April 11.
